The sysctl functionality (sysctl.c) in Linux kernel before 2.6.14.1 allows local users to cause a denial of service (kernel oops) and possibly execute code by opening an interface file in /proc/sys/net/ipv4/conf/, waiting until the interface is unregistered, then obtaining and modifying function pointers in memory that was used for the ctl_table.

Al Viro discovered a race condition in the /proc file handler of network devices. A local attacker could exploit this by opening any file in /proc/sys/net/ipv4/conf/<interface>/ and waiting until that interface was shut down. Under certain circumstances this could lead to a kernel crash or even arbitrary code execution with full kernel privileges. (CVE-2005-2709)

Tetsuo Handa discovered a local Denial of Service vulnerability in the udp_v6_get_port() function. On computers which use IPv6, a local attacker could exploit this to trigger an infinite loop in the kernel.
(CVE-2005-2973)

Harald Welte discovered a Denial of Service vulnerability in the USB devio driver. A local attacker could exploit this by sending an 'USB Request Block' (URB) and terminating the sending process before the arrival of the answer, which left an invalid pointer and caused a kernel crash. (CVE-2005-3055)

Pavel Roskin discovered an information leak in the Orinoco wireless card driver. When increasing the buffer length for storing data, the buffer was not padded with zeros, which exposed a random part of the system memory to the user. (CVE-2005-3180)

A resource leak has been discovered in the handling of POSIX timers in the exec() function. This could be exploited to a Denial of Service attack by a group of local users. This vulnerability only affects Ubuntu 4.10. (CVE-2005-3271)

Stephen Hemming discovered a weakness in the network bridge driver.
Packets which had already been dropped by the packet filter could poison the forwarding table, which could be exploited to make the bridge forward spoofed packages. This vulnerability only affects Ubuntu 4.10 and 5.04. (CVE-2005-3272)

David S. Miller discovered a buffer overflow in the rose_rt_ioctl() function. By calling the function with a large 'ngidis' argument, a local attacker could cause a kernel crash. This vulnerability only affects Ubuntu 4.10 and 5.04. (CVE-2005-3273)

Neil Horman discovered a race condition in the connection timer handling. This allowed a local attacker to set up an expiration handler which modified the connection list while the list still being traversed, which could result in a kernel crash. This vulnerability only affects multiprocessor (SMP) systems. (CVE-2005-3274)

Patrick McHardy noticed a logic error in the network address translation (NAT) connection tracker. A remote attacker could exploit this by causing two packets for the same protocol to be NATed at the same time, which resulted in a kernel crash. (CVE-2005-3275)

Paolo Giarrusso discovered an information leak in the sys_get_thread_area(). The returned structure was not properly cleared, which exposed a small amount of kernel memory to userspace programs. This could possibly expose confidential data.
(CVE-2005-3276).

Note that Tenable Network Security has extracted the preceding description block directly from the Ubuntu security advisory. Tenable has attempted to automatically clean and format it as much as possible without introducing additional issues.

The original update lacked recompiled ALSA modules against the new  kernel ABI. Furthermore, kernel-latest-2.4-sparc now correctly  depends on the updated packages. For completeness we're providing the  original problem description :

  Several local and remote vulnerabilities have been discovered in the   Linux kernel that may lead to a denial of service or the execution   of arbitrary code. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project   identifies the following problems :

    - CVE-2004-0887       Martin Schwidefsky discovered that the privileged       instruction SACF (Set Address Space Control Fast) on       the S/390 platform is not handled properly, allowing       for a local user to gain root privileges.

    - CVE-2004-1058       A race condition allows for a local user to read the       environment variables of another process that is still       spawning through /proc/.../cmdline.

    - CVE-2004-2607       A numeric casting discrepancy in sdla_xfer allows       local users to read portions of kernel memory via a       large len argument which is received as an int but       cast to a short, preventing read loop from filling a       buffer.

    - CVE-2005-0449       An error in the skb_checksum_help() function from the       netfilter framework has been discovered that allows       the bypass of packet filter rules or a denial of       service attack.

    - CVE-2005-1761       A vulnerability in the ptrace subsystem of the IA-64       architecture can allow local attackers to overwrite       kernel memory and crash the kernel.

    - CVE-2005-2457       Tim Yamin discovered that insufficient input       validation in the compressed ISO file system (zisofs)       allows a denial of service attack through maliciously       crafted ISO images.

    - CVE-2005-2555       Herbert Xu discovered that the setsockopt() function       was not restricted to users/processes with the       CAP_NET_ADMIN capability. This allows attackers to       manipulate IPSEC policies or initiate a denial of       service attack.

    - CVE-2005-2709       Al Viro discovered a race condition in the /proc       handling of network devices. A (local) attacker could       exploit the stale reference after interface shutdown       to cause a denial of service or possibly execute code       in kernel mode.

    - CVE-2005-2973       Tetsuo Handa discovered that the udp_v6_get_port()       function from the IPv6 code can be forced into an       endless loop, which allows a denial of service attack.

    - CVE-2005-3257       Rudolf Polzer discovered that the kernel improperly       restricts access to the KDSKBSENT ioctl, which can       possibly lead to privilege escalation.

    - CVE-2005-3783       The ptrace code using CLONE_THREAD didn't use the       thread group ID to determine whether the caller is       attaching to itself, which allows a denial of service       attack.

    - CVE-2005-3806       Yen Zheng discovered that the IPv6 flow label code       modified an incorrect variable, which could lead to       memory corruption and denial of service.

    - CVE-2005-3848       Ollie Wild discovered a memory leak in the       icmp_push_reply() function, which allows denial of       service through memory consumption.

    - CVE-2005-3857       Chris Wright discovered that excessive allocation of       broken file lock leases in the VFS layer can exhaust       memory and fill up the system logging, which allows       denial of service.

    - CVE-2005-3858       Patrick McHardy discovered a memory leak in the       ip6_input_finish() function from the IPv6 code, which       allows denial of service.

    - CVE-2005-4618       Yi Ying discovered that sysctl does not properly       enforce the size of a buffer, which allows a denial of       service attack.

Several local and remote vulnerabilities have been discovered in the Linux kernel that may lead to a denial of service or the execution of arbitrary code. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project identifies the following problems :

  - CVE-2004-1017     Multiple overflows exist in the io_edgeport driver which     might be usable as a denial of service attack vector.

  - CVE-2005-0124     Bryan Fulton reported a bounds checking bug in the     coda_pioctl function which may allow local users to     execute arbitrary code or trigger a denial of service     attack.

  - CVE-2005-0449     An error in the skb_checksum_help() function from the     netfilter framework has been discovered that allows the     bypass of packet filter rules or a denial of service     attack.

  - CVE-2005-2457     Tim Yamin discovered that insufficient input validation     in the zisofs driver for compressed ISO file systems     allows a denial of service attack through maliciously     crafted ISO images.

  - CVE-2005-2490     A buffer overflow in the sendmsg() function allows local     users to execute arbitrary code.

  - CVE-2005-2555     Herbert Xu discovered that the setsockopt() function was     not restricted to users/processes with the CAP_NET_ADMIN     capability. This allows attackers to manipulate IPSEC     policies or initiate a denial of service attack. 

  - CVE-2005-2709     Al Viro discovered a race condition in the /proc     handling of network devices. A (local) attacker could     exploit the stale reference after interface shutdown to     cause a denial of service or possibly execute code in     kernel mode.

  - CVE-2005-2800     Jan Blunck discovered that repeated failed reads of     /proc/scsi/sg/devices leak memory, which allows a denial     of service attack.

  - CVE-2005-2973     Tetsuo Handa discovered that the udp_v6_get_port()     function from the IPv6 code can be forced into an     endless loop, which allows a denial of service attack.

  - CVE-2005-3044     Vasiliy Averin discovered that the reference counters     from sockfd_put() and fput() can be forced into     overlapping, which allows a denial of service attack     through a NULL pointer dereference.

  - CVE-2005-3053     Eric Dumazet discovered that the set_mempolicy() system     call accepts a negative value for its first argument,     which triggers a BUG() assert. This allows a denial of     service attack.

  - CVE-2005-3055     Harald Welte discovered that if a process issues a USB     Request Block (URB) to a device and terminates before     the URB completes, a stale pointer would be     dereferenced. This could be used to trigger a denial of     service attack.

  - CVE-2005-3180     Pavel Roskin discovered that the driver for Orinoco     wireless cards clears its buffers insufficiently. This     could leak sensitive information into user space.

  - CVE-2005-3181     Robert Derr discovered that the audit subsystem uses an     incorrect function to free memory, which allows a denial     of service attack.

  - CVE-2005-3257     Rudolf Polzer discovered that the kernel improperly     restricts access to the KDSKBSENT ioctl, which can     possibly lead to privilege escalation.

  - CVE-2005-3356     Doug Chapman discovered that the mq_open syscall can be     tricked into decrementing an internal counter twice,     which allows a denial of service attack through a kernel     panic.

  - CVE-2005-3358     Doug Chapman discovered that passing a zero bitmask to     the set_mempolicy() system call leads to a kernel panic,     which allows a denial of service attack.

  - CVE-2005-3783     The ptrace code using CLONE_THREAD didn't use the thread     group ID to determine whether the caller is attaching to     itself, which allows a denial of service attack.

  - CVE-2005-3784     The auto-reaping of child processes functionality     included ptraced-attached processes, which allows denial     of service through dangling references.

  - CVE-2005-3806     Yen Zheng discovered that the IPv6 flow label code     modified an incorrect variable, which could lead to     memory corruption and denial of service.

  - CVE-2005-3847     It was discovered that a threaded real-time process,     which is currently dumping core can be forced into a     dead-lock situation by sending it a SIGKILL signal,     which allows a denial of service attack. 

  - CVE-2005-3848     Ollie Wild discovered a memory leak in the     icmp_push_reply() function, which allows denial of     service through memory consumption.

  - CVE-2005-3857     Chris Wright discovered that excessive allocation of     broken file lock leases in the VFS layer can exhaust     memory and fill up the system logging, which allows     denial of service.

  - CVE-2005-3858     Patrick McHardy discovered a memory leak in the     ip6_input_finish() function from the IPv6 code, which     allows denial of service.

  - CVE-2005-4605     Karl Janmar discovered that a signedness error in the     procfs code can be exploited to read kernel memory,     which may disclose sensitive information.

  - CVE-2005-4618     Yi Ying discovered that sysctl does not properly enforce     the size of a buffer, which allows a denial of service     attack.

  - CVE-2006-0095     Stefan Rompf discovered that dm_crypt does not clear an     internal struct before freeing it, which might disclose     sensitive information.

  - CVE-2006-0096     It was discovered that the SDLA driver's capability     checks were too lax for firmware upgrades.

  - CVE-2006-0482     Ludovic Courtes discovered that get_compat_timespec()     performs insufficient input sanitizing, which allows a     local denial of service attack.

  - CVE-2006-1066     It was discovered that ptrace() on the ia64 architecture     allows a local denial of service attack, when preemption     is enabled.

Updated kernel packages that fix several security issues in the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 kernel are now available.

This security advisory has been rated as having important security impact by the Red Hat Security Response Team.

The Linux kernel handles the basic functions of the operating system.

These new kernel packages contain fixes for the security issues described below :

  - a flaw in network IGMP processing that a allowed a     remote user on the local network to cause a denial of     service (disabling of multicast reports) if the system     is running multicast applications (CVE-2002-2185,     moderate)

  - a flaw which allowed a local user to write to firmware     on read-only opened /dev/cdrom devices (CVE-2004-1190,     moderate)

  - a flaw in gzip/zlib handling internal to the kernel that     may allow a local user to cause a denial of service     (crash) (CVE-2005-2458, low)

  - a flaw in procfs handling during unloading of modules     that allowed a local user to cause a denial of service     or potentially gain privileges (CVE-2005-2709, moderate)

  - a flaw in the SCSI procfs interface that allowed a local     user to cause a denial of service (crash)     (CVE-2005-2800, moderate)

  - a flaw in 32-bit-compat handling of the TIOCGDEV ioctl     that allowed a local user to cause a denial of service     (crash) (CVE-2005-3044, important)

  - a race condition when threads share memory mapping that     allowed local users to cause a denial of service     (deadlock) (CVE-2005-3106, important)

  - a flaw when trying to mount a non-hfsplus filesystem     using hfsplus that allowed local users to cause a denial     of service (crash) (CVE-2005-3109, moderate)

  - a minor info leak with the get_thread_area() syscall     that allowed a local user to view uninitialized kernel     stack data (CVE-2005-3276, low)

  - a flaw in mq_open system call that allowed a local user     to cause a denial of service (crash) (CVE-2005-3356,     important)

  - a flaw in set_mempolicy that allowed a local user on     some 64-bit architectures to cause a denial of service     (crash) (CVE-2005-3358, important)

  - a flaw in the auto-reap of child processes that allowed     a local user to cause a denial of service (crash)     (CVE-2005-3784, important)

  - a flaw in the IPv6 flowlabel code that allowed a local     user to cause a denial of service (crash)     (CVE-2005-3806, important)

  - a flaw in network ICMP processing that allowed a local     user to cause a denial of service (memory exhaustion)     (CVE-2005-3848, important)

  - a flaw in file lease time-out handling that allowed a     local user to cause a denial of service (log file     overflow) (CVE-2005-3857, moderate)

  - a flaw in network IPv6 xfrm handling that allowed a     local user to cause a denial of service (memory     exhaustion) (CVE-2005-3858, important)

  - a flaw in procfs handling that allowed a local user to     read kernel memory (CVE-2005-4605, important)

All Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 users are advised to upgrade their kernels to the packages associated with their machine architectures and configurations as listed in this erratum.

Updated kernel packages that fix several security issues in the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 kernel are now available.

This security advisory has been rated as having important security impact by the Red Hat Security Response Team.

The Linux kernel handles the basic functions of the operating system.

These new kernel packages contain fixes for the security issues described below :

  - a flaw in network IGMP processing that a allowed a     remote user on the local network to cause a denial of     service (disabling of multicast reports) if the system     is running multicast applications (CVE-2002-2185,     moderate)

  - a flaw in remap_page_range() with O_DIRECT writes that     allowed a local user to cause a denial of service     (crash) (CVE-2004-1057, important)

  - a flaw in exec() handling on some 64-bit architectures     that allowed a local user to cause a denial of service     (crash) (CVE-2005-2708, important)

  - a flaw in procfs handling during unloading of modules     that allowed a local user to cause a denial of service     or potentially gain privileges (CVE-2005-2709, moderate)

  - a flaw in IPv6 network UDP port hash table lookups that     allowed a local user to cause a denial of service (hang)     (CVE-2005-2973, important)

  - a flaw in 32-bit-compat handling of the TIOCGDEV ioctl     that allowed a local user to cause a denial of service     (crash) (CVE-2005-3044, important)

  - a network buffer info leak using the orinoco driver that     allowed a remote user to possibly view uninitialized     data (CVE-2005-3180, important)

  - a flaw in IPv4 network TCP and UDP netfilter handling     that allowed a local user to cause a denial of service     (crash) (CVE-2005-3275, important)

  - a flaw in the IPv6 flowlabel code that allowed a local     user to cause a denial of service (crash)     (CVE-2005-3806, important)

  - a flaw in network ICMP processing that allowed a local     user to cause a denial of service (memory exhaustion)     (CVE-2005-3848, important)

  - a flaw in file lease time-out handling that allowed a     local user to cause a denial of service (log file     overflow) (CVE-2005-3857, moderate)

  - a flaw in network IPv6 xfrm handling that allowed a     local user to cause a denial of service (memory     exhaustion) (CVE-2005-3858, important)

All Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 users are advised to upgrade their kernels to the packages associated with their machine architecture and configurations as listed in this erratum.

A number of vulnerabilities were discovered and corrected in the Linux 2.6 kernel :

sysctl.c in the Linux kernel prior to 2.6.14.1 allows local users to cause a Denial of Service (kernel oops) and possibly execute code by opening an interface file in /proc/sys/net/ipv4/conf/, waiting until the interface is unregistered, then obtaining and modifying function pointers in memory that was used for the ctl_table (CVE-2005-2709).

Multiple vulnerabilities in versions prior to 2.6.13.2 allow local users to cause a DoS (oops from null dereference) via fput in a 32bit ioctl on 64-bit x86 systems or sockfd_put in the 32-bit routing_ioctl function on 64-bit systems (CVE-2005-3044). Note that this was previously partially corrected in MDKSA-2005:235.

Prior to 2.6.14, the kernel's atm module allows local users to cause a DoS (panic) via certain socket calls that produce inconsistent reference counts for loadable protocol modules (CVE-2005-3359).

A race condition in the (1) add_key, (2) request_key, and (3) keyctl functions in the 2.6.x kernel allows local users to cause a DoS (crash) or read sensitive kernel memory by modifying the length of a string argument between the time that the kernel calculates the length and when it copies the data into kernel memory (CVE-2006-0457).

Prior to 2.6.15.5, the kernel allows local users to obtain sensitive information via a crafted XFS ftruncate call, which may return stale data (CVE-2006-0554).

Prior to 2.6.15.5, the kernel allows local users to cause a DoS (NFS client panic) via unknown attack vectors related to the use of O_DIRECT (CVE-2006-0555).

Prior to an including kernel 2.6.16, sys_mbind in mempolicy.c does not sanity check the maxnod variable before making certain computations, which has an unknown impact and attack vectors (CVE-2006-0557).

Prior to 2.6.15.5, the kernel allows local users to cause a DoS ('endless recursive fault') via unknown attack vectors related to a 'bad elf entry address' on Intel processors (CVE-2006-0741).

Prior to 2.6.15.6, the die_if_kernel function in the kernel can allow local users to cause a DoS by causing user faults on Itanium systems (CVE-2006-00742).

A race in the signal-handling code which allows a process to become unkillable when the race is triggered was also fixed.

In addition to these security fixes, other fixes have been included such as :

  - add ich8 support

    - libata locking rewrite

    - libata clear ATA_QCFLAG_ACTIVE flag before calling the       completion callback

  - support the Acer Aspire 5xxx/3xxx series in the acerhk     module

    - USB storage: remove info sysfs file as it violates the       sysfs one value per file rule

  - fix OOPS in sysfs_hash_and_remove_file()

    - pl2303 USB driver fixes; makes pl2303HX chip work       correctly

    - fix OOPS in IPMI driver which is probably caused when       trying to use ACPI functions when ACPI was not       properly initialized

  - fix de_thread() racy BUG_ON()

The provided packages are patched to fix these vulnerabilities. All users are encouraged to upgrade to these updated kernels.

To update your kernel, please follow the directions located at :

http://www.mandriva.com/en/security/kernelupdate

Please note that users using the LSI Logic 53c1030 dual-channel ultra 320 SCSI card will need to re-create their initrd images manually prior to rebooting in order to fix a bug that prevents booting. A future update will correct this problem. To do this, execute :

# rm /boot/initrd-2.6.12-18mdk.img # mkinitrd /boot/initrd-2.6.12-18mdk.img 2.6.12-18mdk --with-module=mptspi

Updated kernel packages that fix a number of security issues as well as other bugs are now available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 2.1 (32 bit architectures)

This security advisory has been rated as having important security impact by the Red Hat Security Response Team.

The Linux kernel handles the basic functions of the operating system.

These new kernel packages contain fixes for the security issues described below :

  - a flaw in network IGMP processing that a allowed a     remote user on the local network to cause a denial of     service (disabling of multicast reports) if the system     is running multicast applications (CVE-2002-2185,     moderate)

  - a race condition that allowed local users to read the     environment variables of another process (CVE-2004-1058,     low)

  - a flaw in the open_exec function of execve that allowed     a local user to read setuid ELF binaries that should     otherwise be protected by standard permissions.
    (CVE-2004-1073, moderate). Red Hat originally reported     this flaw as being fixed by RHSA-2004:504, but a patch     for this issue was missing from that update.

  - a flaw in the coda module that allowed a local user to     cause a denial of service (crash) or possibly gain     privileges (CVE-2005-0124, moderate)

  - a potential leak of kernel data from ext2 file system     handling (CVE-2005-0400, low)

  - flaws in ISO-9660 file system handling that allowed the     mounting of an invalid image on a CD-ROM to cause a     denial of service (crash) or potentially execute     arbitrary code (CVE-2005-0815, moderate)

  - a flaw in gzip/zlib handling internal to the kernel that     may allow a local user to cause a denial of service     (crash) (CVE-2005-2458, low)

  - a flaw in procfs handling during unloading of modules     that allowed a local user to cause a denial of service     or potentially gain privileges (CVE-2005-2709, moderate)

  - a flaw in IPv6 network UDP port hash table lookups that     allowed a local user to cause a denial of service (hang)     (CVE-2005-2973, important)

  - a network buffer info leak using the orinoco driver that     allowed a remote user to possibly view uninitialized     data (CVE-2005-3180, important)

  - a flaw in IPv4 network TCP and UDP netfilter handling     that allowed a local user to cause a denial of service     (crash) (CVE-2005-3275, important)

  - a flaw in the IPv6 flowlabel code that allowed a local     user to cause a denial of service (crash)     (CVE-2005-3806, important)

The following bugs were also addressed :

  - Handle set_brk() errors in binfmt_elf/aout

  - Correct error handling in shmem_ioctl

  - Correct scsi error return

  - Fix netdump time keeping bug

  - Fix netdump link-down freeze

  - Fix FAT fs deadlock

All Red Hat Enterprise Linux 2.1 users are advised to upgrade their kernels to the packages associated with their machine architectures and configurations as listed in this erratum.

The remote CentOS system is missing a security update which has been documented in Red Hat advisory RHSA-2006-0140.

The remote CentOS system is missing a security update which has been documented in Red Hat advisory RHSA-2006-0101.

ID	Name	Product	Family	Severity
65105	Ubuntu 4.10 / 5.10 : linux-source-2.6.8.1/-2.6.10/-2.6.12 vulnerabilities (USN-219-1)	Nessus	Ubuntu Local Security Checks	medium
22560	Debian DSA-1018-2 : kernel-source-2.4.27 - several vulnerabilities	Nessus	Debian Local Security Checks	high
22559	Debian DSA-1017-1 : kernel-source-2.6.8 - several vulnerabilities	Nessus	Debian Local Security Checks	critical
21977	CentOS 4 : kernel (CESA-2006:0101)	Nessus	CentOS Local Security Checks	high
21881	CentOS 3 : kernel (CESA-2006:0140)	Nessus	CentOS Local Security Checks	high
21133	Mandrake Linux Security Advisory : kernel (MDKSA-2006:059)	Nessus	Mandriva Local Security Checks	high
20855	RHEL 2.1 : kernel (RHSA-2006:0191)	Nessus	Red Hat Local Security Checks	medium
20751	RHEL 3 : kernel (RHSA-2006:0140)	Nessus	Red Hat Local Security Checks	high
20732	RHEL 4 : kernel (RHSA-2006:0101)	Nessus	Red Hat Local Security Checks	high
801415	CentOS RHSA-2006-0140 Security Check	Log Correlation Engine	Generic	high
801413	CentOS RHSA-2006-0101 Security Check	Log Correlation Engine	Generic	high

Detections

Analytics

CVE-2005-2709

critical

Tenable Plugins

medium

high

critical

high

high

high

medium

high

high

high

high